CASDON SELF SERVICE SUPERMARKET [#TESTDRIVETUESDAY]

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This week the boys have been reviewing a toy that I wish I’d had when I was younger – except these never existed, and my own as a child was a market barrow [I attribute my love of public speaking to this toy] that I heckled my family with and tried to sell them plastic tomatoes for 50p a bag from.  The boys’ futuristic version of my “Olden Days” [thank you, boys] toy is the super fancy Casdon Self Service Supermarket and it arrived this week in a very big box.  My postman laughed at me as he does whenever I get large boxes and try and squeeze down my hallway with them.

I decided in a moment of sageness that I was going to assemble the supermarket whilst the boys were at school and preschool and I gave myself half an hour to do it in whilst Gav collected the boys.  After not reading the instructions very carefully I managed to assemble it upside down, then without putting the cardboard shelves in, and then third time lucky I managed to get everything in correctly.  I quickly put the stickers in place before my helpful boys got home, and was mid-box assembly when I was clattered by the three in excitement that I was the best mom, EVER, for getting them a supermarket to play with.   In total it took me 40 minutes to assemble, but that was without putting the batteries in.

They’ve spent the week merrily playing together – and I’m not going to lie, as much as they ADORE the Casdon Self Service Supermarket, they’ve mostly enjoyed being grocery bandits [that’s a nice way of saying shoplifters] and playing Supermarket Sweep more than being sensible shoppers.  It’s one of the best toys they’ve played with in months.  The role play is going, they haven’t asked for Minecraft and I am one happy momma.

Casdon say: “This Self-Service Supermarket Set from Casdon provides hours of role-play fun for your little one! Perfect for playing shop, it comes with lots of accessories and features including a touch-sensitive screen with realistic sound effects, scanner, shopping basket, branded play food, a Chip N Pin machine and plenty of pretend money. This supermarket play set is also great for encouraging hand-to-eye-coordination, problem-solving and motor skills, as well as developing imagination and social skills in your child while they play.”

The set is designed to replicate a self-contained, self-service checkout and features a chip and pin machine, a realistic sounding scanner, touchscreen display, bagging area and three sections of food.  Included in the box are play money in notes and coins, plastic foods and little cardboard product boxes which were easy to assemble with no glue needed.  The set stands at 75cm in height and needs 3 x AA batteries which aren’t included.  The Casdon Self Service Supermarket is suited for children ages 3 and up.

The role play that comes from having this toy.  They’re happy to take up any role and we’ve had far less squabbling and bear poking [as we like to call it] from them this week as they haven’t wanted to play on the computer – and when they had friends over for a playdate, it was the number one toy as we had Wild West supermarket hold-ups, played Supermarket Sweep and tried to sell each other snacks from the pantry too by putting them on the shelves.

There are household brands that my boys recognise instantly on the shelves – Birds Eye, Andrex and friends.  The boys learned all about Arctic Roll from my childhood after they discovered a little pink box of it.

The little details – the receipt in the payment area, the card machine – it’s all of the things that as little ones they see us use and so want to join in with.  Jensen even wrote “Jones Bros” on the credit card so that all of them can use it.

That batteries were included.  I hate having to assemble a toy and THEN also find some batteries before they can actually play with it properly.  Most of the time I haven’t got the batteries and I never get around to putting them in.

The Supermarket was a little more sturdy – maybe with a fourth leg at the back – when we play outdoors on grass it falls over quite a bit when the scanner is used.

The Casdon Self Service Supermarket is a fantastic role play toy and I was amazed when I discovered that it only costs £40, which is quite a bit less than the usual price tag for major toys at the moment.  This would make a fantastic birthday or Christmas gift and there’s so much fun to be had playing with it.